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Skilled Worker immigration reforms introduced without necessary impact assessment, Lords committee says

Release Date
2025-07-29
Media
Electronic Immigration Network
Summary
On July 29, 2025, the House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee published a report strongly criticizing the Home Office for introducing major changes to the immigration system—specifically the Skilled Worker visa route—without proper consultation or an accompanying impact assessment.

The changes, set out in the July 1 statement of changes to the Immigration Rules (HC 997), raised the skill threshold to RQF level 6, removed the social care sector from the list of eligible occupations, and eliminated around 180 job categories. Two schemes for resettling Afghans who supported UK operations were also closed.

The Committee did not comment on the substance of the reforms but condemned the lack of transparency and failure to provide adequate data. Chair Lord Watson highlighted the projected 40% drop in Skilled Worker visa grants, with serious potential consequences for the care sector, calling the omission of impact data from official documentation “inexplicable and inexcusable.”

The Home Office explained that the urgency to implement the changes and internal policy discussions delayed the finalization of the impact assessment. While limited data was eventually shared from the Immigration White Paper—indicating a reduction of 17,000 main applicants and 22,000 dependents annually—the Committee noted this data was not included in the official explanatory memorandum or early communications.

The Committee urged the Home Office to publish a full impact assessment by September 1, ahead of the reforms completing the parliamentary process on September 16. If not provided, the Minister may be summoned to give oral evidence. The Committee warned that policy made without full analysis and consultation is "sub-optimal" and raises serious governance concerns.
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